Various Artists – Domestic Documents Volume 1

Established Aussie labels Noise In My Head and Butter Sessions have come together here on a collaborative compilation, the first of a series which sees the musical selection being gathered from all over the country. The aptly titled Domestic Documents Vol. 1 doesn’t claim to be fully representative of the Australian electronic scene as a whole, but simply insists on presenting “a cross section of wide ranging sounds and ideas” from all over the nation. With familiar faces such as Daze, Lucy Cliché and Mic Mills cropping up on the roster, the double LP also sees the first vinyl excursions for newer names such as Chiara Kickdrum, Ben Keynes and the Dan White/Ryan Hunter collaboration known as Turner Street Sound throughout its tracklist.

As with any good compilation, the electronic styles which are explored throughout its duration are varied enough to keep listeners heavily intrigued from beginning to end. Highlights from the eleven cuts offered here include a blissed-out opener from Analogue Attic boss Albrecht LaBrooy and Cale Sexton’s IDM-reminiscent ‘Room With A VU’. Multiple Man drops a jacking industrial jam with ‘Self Servant’ and Lucy Cliché follows suit with the similarly EBM-influenced ‘Other World’; ‘Vision Suite’ by Lobster Theremin regular Daze has a crunching and entirely alluring synth sound, and Mic Mills provides some lo-fi sensual respite with his very smooth contribution, ‘Nostory’.

These tracks are just some of the standout offerings which crop up over the course of the compilation’s hour-long running time, and considering a second volume has already been promised for late 2016, it certainly feels like a golden age for Australian dance music is being recorded into the annals of history right about now.